Home No more cones: VDOT to celebrate new Lee Street bridge in Broadway with ribbon cutting
Local News

No more cones: VDOT to celebrate new Lee Street bridge in Broadway with ribbon cutting

Rebecca Barnabi
(© Flamingo Images – stock.adobe.com)

The Virginia Department of Transportation will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Lee Street (Route 259) bridge over Linville Creek on Tuesday, October 10, 2023, at 1:30 p.m.

In the Rockingham County town of Broadway, the new bridge is approximately 500 feet west of the intersection with North Main Street (Route 42) and is scheduled to open to traffic on October 12.

The new bridge replaces the structure built in 1951 that had reached the end of its service life. At 192 feet, the new bridge is about the same length as the old bridge, but seven feet wider to accommodate a wider sidewalk and travel lanes.

In summer 2022, construction began on a roadway diversion and installation of a temporary bridge. In December 2022, Lee Street traffic shifted to the temporary roadway and bridge, which allowed contractors to remove the old bridge and build the new bridge and roadway approaches. The temporary structure enabled VDOT to minimize the footprint of the project while maintaining two lanes of traffic during nearly every stage of construction.

Speakers will include VDOT Harrisonburg Residency Engineer Don Komara, Broadway Town Council’s Leslie Fulk, Rockingham County Board of Supervisors Chair Dewey Ritchie and the Commonwealth Transportation Board’s Randy Laird.

VDOT representatives will assist with parking. Participants are encouraged to take Interstate 81 to exit 257 (Mauzy/Broadway/Timberville). Follow Route 259 north into the town of Broadway. Just past the intersection with North Main Street (Route 42), a parking area will be on the left along Creekside Drive.

Rebecca Barnabi

Rebecca Barnabi

Rebecca J. Barnabi is the national editor of Augusta Free Press. A graduate of the University of Mary Washington, she began her journalism career at The Fredericksburg Free-Lance Star. In 2013, she was awarded first place for feature writing in the Maryland, Delaware, District of Columbia Awards Program, and was honored by the Virginia School Boards Association’s 2019 Media Honor Roll Program for her coverage of Waynesboro Schools. Her background in newspapers includes writing about features, local government, education and the arts.